Supreme Court legalizes abortion

In a historic decision, the
U.S. Supreme Court rules in Roe v. Wade that women, as part of their constitutional
right to privacy, can terminate a pregnancy during its first two trimesters.
Only during the last trimester, when the fetus can survive outside the womb,
would states be permitted to regulate abortion of a healthy pregnancy.

The controversial ruling,
essentially reversing a century of anti-abortion legislation in the United States, was the result of a call by many American women for control over
their own reproductive processes. Although defended by the Supreme Court on
several occasions, the legalization of abortion became a divisive and intensely
emotional public issue. The debate intensified during the 1980s,
and both pro-choice and pro-life organizations strengthened their membership
and political influence.

Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush used their executive authority to legislate abortion clinic
guidelines that restricted free practice of the procedure. However, in 1986,
and again in 1989 and 1992, the Supreme Court narrowly reaffirmed the decision,
and in 1993 President Bill Clinton, a Democrat, overturned his predecessors'
anti-abortion legislation within days of taking office. In the 1990s, opponents
of abortion rights increasingly turned to violent methods in their campaign to
make abortion illegal again.

In 2005, the retirement of
Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who though conservative had helped
block efforts to overturn Roe v. Wade, led to fears that the historic
legislation might be vulnerable to reversal.

Lutheran

Presbyterian

About Me

Retired. Reformed and Presbyterian by background, but dedicated to the Anglican Prayerbook with degrees from Presbyterian and Episcopal seminaries. Informed by both traditions. Not giving up the 1662 BCP for the Presbyterians and not giving up the Westminster Standards for the Anglicans.